


Stories in Rings

by OriksPix



Category: Black Sails
Genre: Established Relationship, F/F, Light Smut, One Shot, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-30
Updated: 2017-03-30
Packaged: 2018-10-12 21:26:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10499772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OriksPix/pseuds/OriksPix
Summary: Sometimes, whenever Max paused from taking in the incessant flow of secrets buried beneath loud chatter and moans, she would look down at her hands and marvel at them.Set sometime between season 2 and 3.





	

Her office was lit with slowly burning candles, bright enough for Max to write with little difficulty. She could hear the sound of patrons and workers below, faint yet lively. It was still strange at times, not being in the midst of the boisterous transactions and coy flirtations. Sometimes, whenever Max paused from taking in the incessant flow of secrets buried beneath loud chatter and moans, she would look down at her hands and marvel at them.

There were three rings on her hands now, two small diamonds on her left and a large sapphire on her right. She had never worn opulent rings before, not when they could be stolen or damaged from customers who were too rough. But she had climbed to the top of this fragile house, and her hands were now used to scribble on parchment and exchange purses. She could wear rings with no fear.

Anne came into her office and threw something on her desk. 

Max had quickly learned that Anne was rough when she was doing something for the first time, as if she needed to mask her inexperience with aggression. The first time Anne had lowered her head between Max’s legs, she had scratched her skin with her teeth, and Max, worried that she would end up biting, had pushed her away. 

“I’m no fucking good at this,” Anne had growled. 

“But you want to get better,” Max had told her, “I know you wouldn’t have tried if you didn’t want to do it at all.”

Anne had cursed at the notion, but there was truth to it. Even Jack couldn’t get her to test out a new ale if she decided against it. She wanted to please Max, and the thought alone was enough to warm her.

There had been more attempts after that, with Max coaxing her aggression to specific points, guiding her to be gentler on others. Anne was quick to learn; she skimmed her teeth across the inside of Max’s thighs before laving at her parted lips with her tongue and licking her way up and around her clit, just the way Max had always liked. Anne’s roughness never truly went away, but it was now guided by her desire to improve rather than to hide her insecurities, and Max could revel in that. 

Whatever Anne had thrown on her desk, she had done so with unnecessary force. This was something new and awkward.

Max picked up the tiny leather pouch and shook it. “What is this for?”

Anne lowered her head to hide her eyes beneath the wide brim of her hat. “ ‘S a present,” she mumbled.

Max opened the pouch and out fell a small silver ring. She brought it closer to her face, where she could make out tiny green gems dotting its outer layer. “Where did you get this?”

Anne crossed her arms and leaned against the desk. “Some drunk tried to give it to me in exchange for a fuck. Slipped it in my pocket then he passed out before I could say anything. Never saw any use for fancy rings so I was going to throw it away, but…” she shrugged. “I know you like ‘em so I thought I’d bring it here.”

Max twirled it between her fingers as she listened, her smile widening with every word. “This is a gift, then,” she said, “You don’t give those very often.”

Anne’s crossed arms tightened. “If you don’t want it, just say so.”

Max slid it onto her right ring finger, then placed her chin on her knuckles so Anne could see it glinting starkly against her skin.

“Do you know why I wear these rings?” she asked.

Anne said nothing.

“I wear them because I can,” Max continued, “Because they are a reminder of who I am now. Some of the girls, they wear small, simple ones. But I wear these because they are encrusted with gems.” She placed her hands on the desk, displaying her collection. “They are heavier and more precious. They remind me that I must keep all that I’ve gained.”

She ran her fingers across the etched lines of the desk surface, running them through the wooden grooves. “Eleanor wore rings too.” 

She spoke the name in hopes that the pang in her heart had left completely, but it hadn’t yet. There were still ripples of hurt, painful memories that, while no longer fresh, would no doubt throb like an old wound that could never fully heal. Working in this office was perhaps not the best place to bury these memories, not when her presence lingered behind the chair Max sat in every day like a ghost she couldn't banish.

“She wore them when she slept, when she bathed, when she took me to her bed. When she refused to leave Nassau with me, I thought: ‘Am I really less precious to her than these stones around her fingers? These rings that are just rocks and this place that is just sand?’” 

Her smile turned bitter as she rubbed a thumb across her own jewelry. “But I understand her now. Rings can be very hard to take off. And rocks and sand… when men are willing to fight and die for such things, they are more valuable than gold.”

Anne approached her and placed an uncharacteristically gentle hand over hers. Then she squeezed a little too hard and Max looked up at her face, half-shadowed by her hat.

“Don’t take ‘em off, then,” she said, “I won’t make ya.”

She leaned down for a kiss; it was brusque and firm, the way Anne did all things in life. But when Max opened her mouth, her touch softened. They nipped at each other for a while, wrapped up in a peace that could never be more than fleeting in Nassau. Max pulled away first, keeping her hands linked around Anne’s neck.

“I believe I haven’t thanked you yet,” she said, “Any good gift deserves to be repaid.”

She slid her hands under Anne’s tunic, but couldn’t get very far in her ministrations as Anne pushed her over the desk and hitched her leg around her waist. She felt the cold of Anne’s simple metal rings slide up her thigh, tugging at her bloomers and her breath caught.

“Ain’t no need for that,” Anne said gruffly, “Just wear it.”

And when her fingers pressed down on Max’s mound, she could do nothing more but nod wordlessly and cling onto her with trembling limbs. She would keep this ring, this new memory on her finger, of this moment when Anne gave her more than she had ever expected from her. And if the time ever came when Nassau no longer offered solace, she would discard all of her rings save this one and take it with her.

Anne bit down on her neck and she thought no more of the future.

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to write this before the finale airs. I just want them to be happy ;A;


End file.
